Brick-truck.



No. 664,l45. v Patented Dec. l8, I960. J. m. GUNKLL BRICK TRUCKQM(Application filed Dec. 1 ,1899.

(No Model.)

6 cum 5;

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MORGAN GUNKLE, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHNDE SELLEM, OF SAME PLACE.

BRICK-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664.145, dated December18, 1900.

Application filed December 18. 1899- :erial No- 74=0,'785. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I,JAMns MORGAN GUNKLE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county ofArapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Brick-Trucks, of which thefollowingisaspecificatiomreference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawings.

This invention relates to improvements in the cars or trucks which areused for receiving bricks after they are molded and supporting themduring the time that they are being dried and prepared for the kiln.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car embodying my improvements. Fig. 2is a horizontal section on the line at m of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an endview of the car. Fig. 4 shows one of the pallets.

In the drawings, A A indicate the wheels upon which the car issupported, andA A the axles. These axles are dropped at the center orcranked inside of the wheels. so as to lower the car frame or body asmuch as possible. The wheels are fitted to tracks B B, which areextended from points near the molding-machine, as desiredfor instance,to the drying room or space and also from that to the kiln.

The lower part of the car-frame is formed of longitudinal sills O O andcross-girths D D. E E are uprights, and F is a top sill secured to theiiupper ends, these forming a frame situated in the central verticallongitudinal planes of the car. a e are braces secured to the enduprights E E and at their lower ends secured to the side sills O O, andat the cen tral part of this frame it is supported by stayrods G, whichcan be tightened by means of nuts g, bearing against abutment-plates g.These stay-rods are so situated and are of such dimensions as not tointerfere with the pallets or trays, they being situated in transverseplanes such that the pallets or trays can be slipped past them.

Intermediate of the end uprights E of the main frame there are a seriesof supplemental uprights H, each secured at its lower end to across-girth and at its upper end secured to the top beam or sill F.These intermediate supplemental uprights H H can be of lighter materialthan those at the ends, if desired,

and they are all braced together by inclined braces I, which extend,respectively, from points near the ends of the frame to points near thecenter. At the lines where they cross the uprights H H they are securedthereto, as shown in the drawings. To these intermediate uprights H Hare secured the crossbars which support the brick trays or pallets.These cross-bars are indicated by J J. Each is secured 'at its centerlongitudinally to an upright H, it projecting substantially equaldistances on both sides thereof. The crossarms J are preferably widenedas they approach the center from the ends in order to give themsufficient strength to resist vertical strain. They can, however, becomparatively thin and subserve their necessary ends.

The trays or pallets which carry the brick are each represented as anentirety by K. It is formed of a series of strips k k of wood or similarmaterial, arranged longitudinally to each other, but somewhat remote onefrom the next, so as to insure a free circulation of air. At the endsthese bottom strips of each pallet are all fastened together securely bymeans of cleats It. Each tray or pallet is of such dimensions that itcan carry six bricks, that having been found to be the number which canto best advantage be handled at a time by an operative. The cross-arms JJ are of such length thatsix of these pallets or trays can be placedthereon, three upon each side of the central frame E F.

The bricks as they are received from the molding-machine are placed uponthe pallets six in a row, as aforesaid, and the pallet is then put inplace upon the car, and by haudling them in this way there is nonecessity for further handling until they are dried and hardened andready to be placed in the kiln.

One of the principal purposes of my invention is to provide a movablesupport or car of such nature that a very large number of bricks can beplaced thereon and transported from place to place until dried andhardened, and, further, of such nature that the bricks while sosupported shall be exposed in such way that the air shall have free andrapid access to all parts of each. By reducing the brick-supporting partof the car to a narrow condensed frame extending along the center andfrom end to end of the car I greatly economize room, so that a verylarge number of bricks can be supported and exposed in the waydescribed. I am aware of the fact that racks have been heretofore madeor proposed for this purpose each having an upright frame and cross-armsadapted to receive a series of boards, each board containing a number ofbricks and the rack being intended to be engaged by a hand-truck. Thisis illustrated in Patent No. 502,738 to J. F. Mock; but in these earlierconstructions one-half, or there about, of the total space or volumeoccupied by the brick-supports was not available, the frame being soconstructed as that only the end parts of the cross-bars could be usedfor carrying trays. In myeonstruction the crossbars are each carried bya truly-vertical post at the longitudinal center of the frame, andconsequently these bars can all be uniform in length and are availableas tray-supports throughout practically their entire length, only a veryshort section of each being lost because of the attachment at the centerto said vertical posts. Only a single tray, carrying a single row ofbricks, could be placed upon each pair of cross-arms in the earlierapparatus referred to, because of the lost space at the center of theapparatus. By constructing the mechanism on the plan I have devised I amenabled to carry three or more trays at each end of a pair of the barsand can elongate the total apparatus, so as to give it a large carryingcapacity.

I am also aware of the fact that portable racks for light articles, suchas articles of clothing, have been heretofore used, the frame of eachsuch rack having a post or upright at each end with longitudinalhorizontal bars secured to them and with cross-bars secured to andresting upon the longitudinal bars; but it is impossible to support upona framework of that character a mass of bricks such as can be carriedupon a frame constructed in the way I have shown with a weight of atleast six thousand pounds. In my case this Weight is transmitted to thebase-frame by the posts intermediate of the ends and to which thetray-bars are directly secured, yet the structure as a whole is light,because of this arrangement of the weight carrying parts, the tray-barsthemselves being placed liatwise vertically and their carrying-poststhroughout the series being braced together. The tray-bars J and thevertical posts H,which are primarily the brick-supporting parts in myconstruction, are to be regarded as entirely supplemental to the mainframe, the parts of the latter being so arranged as not to interferewith the full carrying capacity of the bars J.

What I claim is- 1. In a brick-ear, the combination of the transportingvheels, the bottom frame, the upright frame situated in thecentrallongitudinal planes of the car, supplemental, centrally-arranged,vertical pallet-supporting uprights intermediate of the end parts of thesaid upright frame, and the cross-arms on and carried entirely by thevertical intermediate uprights, arranged substantially as described tohave brick trays or pallets placed close to the central longitudinalplanes of the car throughout the length thereof, substantially as setforth.

2. In a brick-car, the combination of the transporting-wheels, thebottom frame, the upright frame situated at the central longitudinalplanes of the car, the braces G extending from the upright frame at thecenter of the car to the sides of the bottom frame, and situated intransverse planes between the positions of two adjacent vertical seriesof pallets, and the vertical brick supporting posts oruprightsintermediate of the end parts of the upright frame, and thecross-arms on the said intermediate uprights, said uprights, cross-armsand braces G being arranged substantially as set forth to permit thebrick pallets or trays to be rested upon the cross-arms in continuousseries from end to end and from bottom to top and from the ends of thearms inward to the central vertical longitudinal planes of the car,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MORGAN GUNKLE.

Witnesses:

JOHN DE SELLEM, R. PARKER.

